Submission Policy
The Editorial Board of Social Entrepreneurship Review accepts the following types of submissions in English: academic articles and research reports, and book reviews.
The Editorial Board accepts only original papers that have not been previously published in any other periodical or book and are not currently under review elsewhere. The Journal does not charge fees for article submission, processing, or publication. Authors do not receive payment for published articles.
Submissions should be sent to the editorial office via the OJS. The Editorial Board reserves the right to introduce editorial modifications in consultation with the author, including abridgement if a paper exceeds the approved length. The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject submitted papers.
Submissions from Programme Board and Editorial Board members follow the same procedures as those from other authors.
Copyright
The Journal operates under an Open Access model with a CC-BY 4.0 licence. Authors retain copyright to their work while granting the Krakow University of Economics a licence to publish the article. Readers may share, copy, and adapt the content for any purpose, provided appropriate credit is given. The full licence terms are available on the Journal's website.
Self-Archiving Policy
Authors may archive their work as follows: Pre-print (pre-refereeing version) may be posted on any website. Post-print (final draft post-refereeing) may be posted on the author's personal website, institutional open access repository, or academic social networks. Publisher's version (PDF) may be posted in any of the locations listed above.
All archived versions must acknowledge the publisher's copyright, provide full citation details, include a link to the publisher's version with DOI, and be accompanied by a copy of the licence.
Peer Review Process
Each submission undergoes double-blind peer review. Authors receive reviewer feedback regardless of the editorial decision. The review process typically takes 8-12 weeks from submission to initial decision.
Evaluation Criteria
Reviewers evaluate submissions according to the following criteria:
Originality: Does the paper offer new and significant insights that justify publication? Are the research questions and conclusions original, advancing understanding within the field of social entrepreneurship?
Theoretical Foundation and Relationship to Literature: Is the paper grounded in an appropriate theoretical framework? Does it demonstrate adequate understanding of relevant literature and cite an appropriate range of sources? Is any significant work overlooked?
Methodology: Is the research design sound and the methodology appropriate to the research questions? Are the methods clearly described and rigorously applied?
Results and Conclusions: Are findings presented clearly and analysed appropriately? Do the conclusions follow logically from the evidence and effectively integrate the other elements of the paper?
Contribution and Implications: Does the paper make a meaningful contribution to the field? Does it identify implications for research, practice, and/or society—such as implications for teaching, public policy, or social impact?
Quality of Communication: Is the paper clearly written and well-structured? Is language appropriate for the journal's readership? Has attention been paid to readability, including sentence structure, use of jargon, and definition of acronyms? Are figures, tables, and references presented clearly and correctly formatted?
Review Outcomes
Accept: The article is suitable for publication in its present form.
Minor revisions: The article requires minor modifications before publication.
Major revisions: The article requires substantial revision and will undergo a second review.
Reject: The article is not suitable for publication.
If a paper is accepted subject to revisions, the author must address the reviewers' comments by the deadline set by the Editorial Office (typically four weeks for minor revisions, eight weeks for major revisions) and submit a detailed, point-by-point response document in which each reviewer's comment is quoted or numbered and followed by the corresponding revision or explanation.
Appeal Process
Authors may appeal editorial decisions. An author who disagrees with a rejection must submit a written appeal within two weeks of receiving notification. The appeal should present substantive arguments explaining why the decision should be reconsidered. After reviewing the appeal, the Editorial Board will either uphold the original decision or commission an additional review. The appeal review process takes up to three weeks.
Publication Ethics
Author Responsibilities
Authors bear responsibility for any copyright violations and other issues related to their submissions. Authors must obtain appropriate permissions to reproduce excerpts, charts, graphics, or other materials from other publications. For multi-authored papers, the submitting author must obtain consent from all co-authors and specify in the article the extent of each author's contribution to the preparation of the text.
Authors must provide complete information regarding sources of funding and contributions from research institutions, associations, or other entities (financial disclosure).
Authorship Integrity
To prevent ghost-writing and guest-authorship, the Editorial Board requires authors to disclose individual contributions to the work, including affiliations and specific inputs (concept development, methodology, data collection, analysis, writing, etc.). The main author bears overall responsibility for the manuscript. Ghost-writing and guest-authorship constitute scientific misconduct; confirmed cases will be reported to relevant bodies, including the authors' affiliated institutions, academic associations, and editorial organisations.
For further guidance, consult the COPE Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing..
Anti-Plagiarism Policy
The Journal uses the Crossref Similarity Check system with iThenticate to screen all submissions for potential plagiarism.
Additional Policies
For the Journal's policy on the use of AI tools, data availability, corrections and retractions, and conflicts of interest, see the dedicated Policy section on the Journal's website.
Manuscript Requirements
Format and Submission
Language: English (British spelling and punctuation). American English is acceptable provided usage is consistent throughout the manuscript.
Format: Microsoft Word (.docx), submitted via the editorial system (OJS) (SER template).
Anonymisation: The manuscript must be anonymised for peer review (no author names or identifying information in the text)
Tables and charts: Created in MS Excel or MS Word Chart Editor. If using other software (e.g., Corel Draw, Statistica, SPSS), save files in .wmf, .eps, .svg, or high-resolution .pdf format with embedded fonts at 300 dpi resolution.
Template: Use the SER manuscript template (SER template).
Maximum length: 22 standard pages (1,800 characters with spaces per page), including abstract, keywords, and references.
Accessibility: All figures must be accompanied by appropriate alternative text (alt text) describing their content.
Structure
Empirical papers should generally follow a five-part structure: Introduction, Literature Review, Material and Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Results and Discussion may be presented as separate sections or combined, depending on the nature of the research. Theoretical and conceptual papers may adopt an alternative structure appropriate to their content.
Abstract and Keywords
Include an abstract (100–150 words) and 4–5 keywords. The abstract should contain the following elements:
- Background: One or two sentences placing the work in context
- Aims: One or two sentences stating the purpose of the research
- Methods: One or two sentences describing the research methods
- Results: One or two sentences summarizing the main findings
- Conclusions: One sentence presenting the most important implication of the work
Citations and References
Citation style: APA 7th edition (Author, year, page[s])
DOI format: Include DOIs for all referenced works where available, formatted as: https://doi.org/10.1234/example
Required Attachments
Author Statement: Completed and signed Author Statement form. The form includes declarations regarding originality, authorship contributions, conflicts of interest, and funding sources.
Title Page: Submit a separate Title Page 2026 file (not included in the manuscript) using the template.
Book Reviews
The Journal publishes reviews of academic works, including monographs, edited volumes, document collections, and source editions published within the past two years.
Content Requirements
Reviews must include complete bibliographic data (author name, title, publisher, place and year of publication, number of pages, appendices, etc.). Reviews may address multiple works by the same author or works addressing a common research question. The reviewer should present a clear critical evaluation, discuss the work's contribution to the field, assess the methodology and sources, and may comment on editorial quality.
Length and Approval
Reviews should be 3–11 standard pages (1,800 characters with spaces per page). Authors must contact the Editorial Office to confirm the subject and obtain approval before submission.
Special Issues
Special Issues are thematic collections organised by Guest Editors. Proposals should explain the origin of the Special Issue (e.g., conference proceedings, thematic call for papers), its rationale, and include abstracts of approximately 300 words for each proposed contribution.
All Special Issue submissions undergo peer review following the same procedures as regular issues. Editorial oversight and quality standards are identical to those applied to regular issues.
Submit proposals to: ser@uek.krakow.pl
